Wings
by Neko-chan the Mewse
Summary: AU Alvin's obsession with Jude is limited to his wings. Really.


**I got this idea while messing with the in game attachments.**

* * *

**Wings  
By Neko-chan the Mewse  
2/12/15**

* * *

The first time Alvin saw him his eyes were immediately drawn to the wings. They looked soft with their baby blue feathers all neatly preened. They were too small for flight but did a marvelous job with expressing everything the boy felt. Even as Jude kept a calm face plastered on, his puffed up wings betrayed his true feelings. After Milla's death, it had almost hurt to see the way Jude's wings drooped with sorrow.

His first chance to touch them was when he grabbed the boy to jump on the ship. Jude pulled his wings close in and then tried to flare them when they jumped. Alvin had to tighten his grip to avoid being pushed away by Jude's panicked flapping. Instead of focusing on the landing, he couldn't help but think of the wings. The feathers really were as soft as they looked.

There was an ongoing theory that a person's animal traits were determined by their personality. Alvin felt his black, curved horns certainly suited him. He was stubborn to a fault and wasn't afraid to speak his mind. They make him look devilish and most people assumed he has a terrible personality. Alvin doesn't try to dissuade them. It is, after all, a good fit for his behavior.

If he is a devil, then Jude is an angel. His wings fit him perfectly—he's gentle, docile, and something of a pacifist. His wings make him look angelic and his generosity and kindness quickly establish him as one in Alvin's mind.

Milla has what looks to be a dog tail. It's barely visible through all her hair and half the time it seems like she doesn't have any animal traits at all. Alvin couldn't see anything dog-like about her personality, but he was willing to wait and see. He started to understand when she continued to plow forward with her self-assigned mission like a dog after a bone.

In the course of their journey, he continued to be fascinated by Jude's wings. He hadn't ever really seen a winged person before Jude came along. The way Jude incorporated them into his fighting style, using them as extra balancers or to get a tiny bit more lift for a downward kick, was fascinating. When they were walking, Alvin couldn't resist watching them flutter gently.

Rowen sometimes brushed by him, his own wings swishing, to give him a raised eyebrow as if judging him for the way he was watching Jude. Alvin just grinned at him cheekily. It wasn't as if he was staring at Rowen's wings, so the old man had no reason to be giving him that look. Rowen's wings were leathery and, despite how nice they looked draped on his back, just didn't appeal to him.

Even without his obsession with the boy's wings, Jude was interesting. He always seemed to trust Alvin, despite the fact that he betrayed them more than once. Occasionally, he would fling his arm around Jude's slim shoulders and pull him close, just to see his reaction. Jude never disappointed, pulling his wings in nervously while still looking at him trustingly.

He wanted to tie those wings up and see how far he could push that trust. Better yet, he could tie _Jude_ up and watch the boy's wings flail helplessly—

There must have been something alarming about the way he was looking at Jude because Leia latched onto his shoulders _with her claws out _and that _really _hurt. He didn't get up from where he was sitting, but he did glower at her. She looked completely oblivious to the pain he was in but there was something very satisfied in the way she grinned at him.

Cats were completely mental, he decided as he watched her skip over to where Rowen was setting up a tent. They seemed to pick one person to bully and then no one else was allowed to do the same. Case in point here: Jude and her incessant stalking of him.

Elize was looking his way now, her black rabbit ears flopping about, and her eyes stopped on his shoulders. She seemed alarmed, but not overly so, and darted past him towards where Milla and Jude had set up a fire. Alvin glanced down and grimaced. That damn cat had put _holes_ in his _coat_! And he was bleeding. On his coat! That he liked!

"Hey, let me see," Jude was suddenly kneeling at his side and pulling his coat open, his hands beginning to glimmer with a healing arte. "So, what'd you do to make Leia mad?" he asked once the wounds were closed.

"I didn't do anything," _except look at you_, Alvin added in his head. Jude was looking him in the eye piercingly, as if searching his soul for something. Whatever he found seemed to satisfy him since he looked away. Alvin found himself wishing the kid would turn back—he really liked the amber color of his eyes. _He's way too young,_ a tiny voice screeched in the back of his mind. _Old enough,_ the rest of him shoots back.

"I'll go talk to Leia, she shouldn't claw people for no reason," Jude says, starting to stand. Alvin reaches out and snags his sleeve. Jude looks at him calmly, his face blank. If it weren't for the way his wings had suddenly puffed up, Alvin never would have guessed that Jude was startled.

"It's okay," Alvin tells him. He wants to keep Jude next to him. He expects Jude to brush off his hand and continue off, but Jude surprises him by returning to a sitting position. He can feel one of Jude's wings brush up against his arm and he has to resist the urge to caress it.

He's so busy trying to look like he's not looking at Jude's wings that he doesn't notice Jude eyeing his horns. He's snapped out of his thoughts by the feel of a hand rubbing against his right horn. It's so nice that Alvin immediately goes boneless. "Just a smudge of dirt," Jude says innocently, giving the horn an affectionate tug. It's such a sweet gesture that Alvin almost stops breathing. Then he actually does stop breathing when Jude gives him a magnificent smile and leans against his side.

Alvin is completely stiff. He has no idea what to do and a quick glance around shows that everyone else has picked that moment to vanish. How unhelpful. Then he feels Jude's wings shift between them and sees the nervous smile flitting about on the other's face. It's practically consent for someone as passive as Jude, so he grins manically and reaches out to finally—_finally_—pet the damned wings. "I always wanted to pet these," he confesses quietly.

Jude turns pink and mutters something that sounds suspiciously like "wanted to touch your horns" into Alvin's coat. Then he lifts his head and says rather crossly, "At least that explains why you wouldn't stop _staring_ at them."

Alvin is surprised and slightly mortified that Jude even noticed. "What can I say? They're attractive," Alvin drawls to cover up his embarrassment. His casual attitude is rewarded with another blush. His leer softens and he can't help but grin at Jude. "I'm helping you preen them," he declares, running his fingers through the feathers.

"Yeah," Jude's blush darkens a little before he says, "That can be your job from now on. If you like."

Alvin's heart jumps for joy and he purrs, "You can help me polish my _horns_," he wiggles his eyebrows and is rewarded with a tiny laugh.

To his delight, Jude smiles and says, "I will, later,"

Alvin swallows heavily. Later can't come soon enough. But that's another story.


End file.
